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Hi all,
This week we attended the first MNSSHP of the season at the Magic Kingdom in Florida.
There are a few minor changes this year to the line-up, but nothing too noteworthy.
The Boo To You Parade is down by 3 characters this year, sadly. Angelica, Liver Lips and Shaker have all been cut.
There are some additional performers, and some new outfits for the performers in the parade.
There is also the new Not So Scary Street Jam! which is basically a street dance party right before the parade. We don't rate this very much, and think that of all the things Disney could have added, they wasted a group of performers' talents, whereas they could be additional characters in the parade!
There is some new merchandise, including the usual pins and t-shirts.
The atmosphere seemed to be a bit more lacking than previous years, with less smoke effects and projections, I thought. Sadly, as the years have gone on, there has been a steady define in the MNSSHP offerings.
Now, for the most important part, the character meet 'n' greets!
Phineas and Ferb at the Arboretum next to City Hall
Mickey and Minnie in Town Square Theater (in Halloween costumes)
Cinderella, Prince Charming, Snow White, The Prince, Rapunzel and Flynn in Town Square Theater
Villains around Central Plaza at select times - includes Jafar, Gaston, The Tremaines' and Lotso
Villains Dance Mix 'n' Mingle - briefly meeting after the show are Dr Facilier, Cruella, Maleficent, The Queen of Hearts and Frollo (as far as we could tell - it is always chaos around there!)
Adventureland Veranda - Tarzan, Jane and Terk
The Nook - Tinker Bell and Periwinkle
Agrabah Bazaar - Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie and Abu
Jack Sparrow outside Pirates of the Caribbean
The Glade (Liberty Sq, behind the Christmas Shoppe) - Tiana and Naveen
Liberty Square boat dock - Duffy (in a Halloween costume)
Frontierland Dance Party - Woody, Jessie and Bullseye (hard to meet unless you dance with them)
The Seven Dwarfs outside Big Thunder Mountain
Castle Courtyard - Aurora and Phillip
Fairytale Garden - Merida
Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet outside the Pooh attraction (in Halloween costumes)
Donald and Daisy opposite the Pooh attraction (in Halloween costumes)
Alice and the Hatter at the Tea Cups
Tomorrowland Dance Party - Goofy, Pluto, Stitch, Chip and Dale (hard to meet unless you dance with them) (in space costumes, including Stitch as 626!)
Buzz Lightyear next to his attraction
The biggest changes this year are the addition of Merida, Periwinkle, Phineas and Ferb. Of course, all these can be met in the parks during the day, but nonetheless, here they are.
To see our full detailed page about MNSSHP, click here.
Ok, I think that's everything for now!
If we hear of any changes as the parties progress, we'll be sure to update you on the blog!
Dan. |
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Hi all!
Sorry that it has been a few days since a proper update.
I have been very busy with getting ready to move house, preparing for our trip to Disneyland this week, and a whole lot of other things that basically get in the way!
We do actually try to keep up to date on our forums, and our members there often post news before I get chance to blog about it; so be sure to join our friendly forum to get the most out of Character Central!
Ok so to the news!
Tokyo Disneyland have finally added Rapunzel and Flynn as meet 'n' greet characters, which means that Rapunzel can now be met at all five resorts worldwide!
Disneyland celebrated it's 57th birthday last week, and there was a small ceremony in Town Square. Here's a link to a video of the occasion.
Hong Kong Disneyland's newest land opened last week. Grizzly Gulch features a new take on the Frontierland concept, with a new attraction that is a unique take on Big Thunder.
Of course characters now meet there, and guests can meet Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale in brand new Western outfits. Koda and Kenai also meet there.
Over in Disneyland Paris they released their press information for Halloween Season this year.
I had already said previously here on the blog that people should expect the Mickey's Trick or Treat in the Street to return, and I was right!
Goofy will have a new Halloween location in Town Square, and will be themed around the Goody Candy Co concept which they have in the US.
The Villains will of course be back, but in Fantasyland, and Jack and Sally will return as usual, this year near Phantom Manor.
The Soirée sadly will not be getting a replacement show because of the loss of Central Plaza Stage, but Disney Dreams! will be run instead (which can of course be seen any night of the year).
I haven't heard of any more changes to the Soirée, so hopefully all the other weird French entertainment, performers and characters will return as usual.
There is one last thing for Halloween, but it is linked with a recent event too.
We all know that Duffy the Disney Bear has never been popular at any park except Tokyo, despite the fact that he continues to be pushed everywhere. Well, despite the US pushing him ever forward, Paris actually decided last week (unofficially I guess) to drop him!
Now, instead of Duffy at the Boarding House in Town Square, any other main character (usually a Big 8 or Pooh pals) appears if they decide to do that, at any given point (Duffy might still appear, but it is less likely now).
What we have heard though is that Duffy will be back full time for the Halloween Season in a Halloween outfit. I wonder if it will be the same as the US Parks outfit?
I think that's everything for the news today!
A couple of things here at Character Central before I go.
First off, and I hate to write this sort of thing but needs must, I have seen on a number of occasions again recently people copying our work. Whether that be pictures and even my blog posts. Please do not do this. We work hard - and unpaid! - at this to bring you the best character website on the Internet, and it is so disappointing that people can't even be bothered to link back to us or credit us. Groan over!
Second, we have been working really hard to get some great new content up on the site ready for our relaunch, and we are really pleased with how it is all going! I know some of you have asked us on the forums when you can expect to see the new version of the site, and at the moment all I can say is, just be patient and it'll come soon enough!
Thirdly, we are off to Disneyland in California on Wednesday, and as always - where possible - we will be updating throughout our trip with pictures and more on our Facebook page and Twitter. So be sure to follow us there!
Finally, we are still trying to reach our goal of 2000 Likes on our Facebook page, and when we do, we'll be running another great prize giveaway! So get sharing our page with all your friends!
All the best,
Dan. |
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Hi all!
First off, yes I know we have been quiet on here for a while, but to be honest there hasn't been TOO much going on in the Character world as late (except a few small things which I'll mention below), and we have also been very busy ourselves.
I myself am in the process of moving house, and on top of that we are went to DLP again, are preparing for our AMAZING summer of round the world craziness (!), AND we have been desperately trying to catch up on all our pictures from previous trips. That is on top of maintaining this site and making sure everything runs smoothly. LOL!
So yes, you could say we have been busy!
As I mentioned, we have been working on pictures, and across the site there are many new photos showing up on location and character pages. When you're on a page be sure to scroll down to the "Recent" tab to see the latest images.
I have also updated the calendar to reflect some changes to our plans this year, for those of you who like to keep track of us around the globe!
If we're nearby, be sure to drop us a line!
We have now run two competitions with great success, one was exclusively on Facebook just last week, which one of our regular fans won just for "Liking" and "Sharing" a post on there! We do plan to run more competitions, and have some fun ideas planned for how you can interact with us to win prizes! At the moment we are looking to reach the magic number of 2000 Likes/Fans on our Facebook page, and if we achieve that, we will run another amazing prize giveaway at the end of this month! So head over to our Facebook page and get sharing with your friends so we can get to 2000 and run the competition!
Ok, so to the Character news...
Disneyland last week announced the dates for it's popular Mickey's Halloween Party, which can be found here.
We were able to attend last year twice, and we had a LOT of fun! This year we'll be in BOTH Asian Resorts for Halloween, AND the Halloween Soiree in Paris!
Disney On Ice also launched a new show, titled Rockin' Ever After, which will be a musical revue of some of the newest and classic Disney Fairytales - including Princess Merida from Disney-PIXAR's Brave! We have already booked our tickets for January, and look forward to seeing it! Speaking of Disney On Ice, sadly we had to cancel our trip to see Passport to Adventure, as it conflicted with dates for something else. This is an old show now - which we still haven't seen - I just hope we get chance to FINALLY see it sometime before it gets retied.
Finally, we have heard strong rumours that SpectroMagic will return next spring (most likely March) to the Magic Kingdom after its long hiatus! Of course they are still ONLY rumours, but everything we have heard so far seems to confirm this will happen. As always, when we know more, we'll post it here.
Ok, I think that's it for now. Remember to look out for great new content across the site, and check out our Facebook page for exclusive updates, as well as all the latest information regarding our competition - remember to share our page with your friends so that we can run the BIG giveaway at the end of July!
Dan. |
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Hi all,
Sorry it has been a while again, but we have been ever busy, and to be honest, there hasn't been too much character news out there!
But, nonetheless I thought I'd just mention a few things that have happened in recent days.
At Disneyland Paris, the new Meet Mickey opened in Fantasyland at the former Fantasy Festival Stage location.
We don't have any of our own pictures to share right now, but from what I have seen of the inside, it is really neat! I think that they did a much better job of it than Town Square Theatre in the Magic Kingdom, that's for sure!
Disneyland Paris also released the new Winter brochure for this year, and it provides some small (very small) details about what to expect this Halloween and Christmas seasons.
Characters in themed outfits seem to be returning to both celebrations, and at Halloween the Villains too.
As we already knew, but now confirmed, the MNSSHPs are not returning (sadly), but the Soiree will.
At Christmas, Mickey's Winter Wonderland will return, and the description uses a plural - shows - so we expect that the Tree Lighting will return, and a new, reworked Castle Lighting (seeing that Central Plaza Stage has now gone).
Find a out a few more details, including dates, on our forum here (Christmas) and here (Halloween).
Over in Walt Disney World, Star Wars weekend began last week, and have, as always, been featuring all the best loved characters from the movies. I haven't heard of anything exceptional this year, or anyone new, but if I do I'll of course post it here.
Staying with the US Parks, both WDW and Disneyland launched Princess Merida from PIXAR's Brave last week.
Merida now meets at the Fairytale Garden in the Magic Kingdom, and near "it's a small world" in Disneyland.
Finally, last week I had posted a Happy Birthday Goofy post... I had done this because, according to numerous sources - including the Disney Parks Blog itself! - that it was indeed Goofy's Birthday. Now, according to Disney, it is Goofy's Birthday today!
I have double checked against various different sources, and most places seem to agree it is today, but some places still record it as the 12th of May!
Well, anyway, what ever the actual date (and my suspicion it is indeed today), we'll wish Goofy Happy Birthday again! Check out last week's post for a photo filled tribute to our favourite goof in action at the Parks and Resorts!
Ok, that's all for now,
Dan. |
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Hi all,
This week sees some sad news from Disney's Animal Kingdom. Apparently due to the new character lunch at Tusker House, WDW feel it apparently necessary to cut a whole bunch of characters from the Park's meet 'n' greet line up. To be honest nothing actually surprises me with WDW any more, and this is just another sad change that will go unchecked.
Quite why they have to cut regular meet 'n' greet characters - especially popular ones such as Lilo and Stitch, when they are receiving money for the meals anyway, is quite baffling. Doesn't it already cost enough to get into Disney, without having to pay for a meal to meet characters? Shouldn't the cost of the meal cover that service? Why should regular meet 'n' greets suffer? Let us know your thoughts on this by replying to this article, below.
Over at the Magic Kingdom, our friend Drew has posted some rumoured characters for Pete's Silly Sideshow. We hope that there are no cutbacks there, and some of those mentioned indeed come true! Oswald would be particularly amazing!
At Disney's Hollywood Studios Jake has finally made his official debut at both the Play 'n' Dine and outside Disney Junior Live at a meet 'n' greet. Sadly, once again, in favour of this one new character, ALL the Little Einsteins have faced the axe! The only one left that I am aware of is June, who still meets at the Play 'n' Dine (which is of course a paying service...) Jake has also started greeting at Hollywood Pictures Backlot in Disney California Adventure. I am sure Loren will have all the updates form that next weekend!
Here in Europe at Disneyland Paris, artwork has been released showing what is expected to be some of the changes to the Once Upon a Dream Parade for the 20th anniversary. I had already posted on the blog back in the early summer that the Fairies would appear at the front, and Mickey and Friends would move to the back onto Princess 2, but this seems to now be confirmed.
It also looks like there could be some new characters in the parade, such as Mowgli and Mike Wazowski. The Mickey and Friends characters are expected to have new outfits, which are the same ones which have been used for all the 20th anniversary advertising so far. Hopefully that will translate into meet 'n' greet outfits too, as they look pretty cool!
Regarding next year and Halloween, I had mentioned before that Halloween may be facing some cuts next year due to the massive expediture on the new "Dreams" night time spectacular. The new brochure (which can be found here, and also has a lot of the new artwork in it) does indeed confirm the sad demise of Mickey's Halloween Parties, but leaves the Soirée in place. It does confirm however that ther ewill be a Halloween Season, filled with characters and Disney Villains. Hopefully that means at least the Fab 5 friends, Pooh (Fab 5 and Pooh in Halloween outfits that is) and Jack and Sally will continue to meet, as they have always done, as well as all the cool Villains.
Ok, that's all for now,
Dan. |
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Hi all, We begin today's news with some details about Christmas Season across the parks, which has gotten under-way this week. First off, to Disneyland Paris, where they welcomed Duffy to the Resort officially. Duffy was inaugurated at special ceremony which incorporated the unveiling of the Gingerbread House at the Disneyland Hotel. He was joined by the band, as well as Mickey and friends in their Holiday finest. [ Read More... ] |
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Hi all, After a quiet couple of weeks on the characters news front, like buses, it all comes at once today! As Halloween Season across the parks draws to a close tonight, I have a few things to mention. Disney's Animal Kingdom, which for as long as one can remember has featured the Pooh and Fab 5 characters in Halloween outfits during the last few days of the season, has this year dropped this tradition. It was the only place across the WDW Resort you could meet any Halloween characters without having to pay for the parties (with exception to Duffy at Epcot this year). So we say a sad farewell to scarecrow Mickey, mummy Eeyore and all the other cool costumes from years passed. Over in the Magic Kingdom at the parties, it was reported that Donald has been seen in his pirate outfit on some random occasions even though he is supposed to be meeting as the pumpkin this year. Moving across the pond to Paris, and this weekend saw the Terrorific Nights return, this year with the addition of some Disney Villains. The event in it's two previous incarnations had billed itself as being the more adult, and much scarier event, with very little Disney influence at all. This year saw all the regular Villains from DLP's main Halloween Season and parties appear at the Studios events, including Shan Yu, The Witch, Hades, Frollo and Jafar. I had previously said that the Headless Horseman was making a surprise appearance at the Halloween version of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show for all performance in the last week of October, and much to everyone's surprise, he even made it over to Terrorific Nights as well! Staying with Paris, but jumping ahead to next week, and in preparation for his Christmas Season public début, Duffy the Disney Bear is appearing at a special Annual Passholder event tomorrow at the Newport Bay Club. From 1pm to 2.30pm, Duffy will greet his fans who hold the Dream pass. I have no working link for the sign up, so you will have to contact Disney if you want to attend. Over in California, Loren keeps us up to date as always with any character developments there. His latest post can be found here, and includes details about the Christmas Day Parade taping at the park this coming weekend! It is likely to be awesome, but also very hectic, so make sure you read his post about all the events before you go! Over at WDWMagic, our friend Drew posted that Talking Mickey will be making appearances in WDW this week at Town Square Theater. Disney will probably not release any details about this, and it will be pot luck if you get to meet him. Let us know if you get to see him! Don't forget to check out all the latest additions to the site. Happy Halloween everyone! Dan. |
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 | Happy Halloween Everyone! | |
| DisneyDan
Monday, October 31, 2011 10:12:21 AM |
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Happy Halloween from Character Central!
Dan and Jon.
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Hi all, This week has been a fairly quiet week news wise, so I thought I would just update you on some of the new things here at Character Central. Part One of my Disneyland Halloween trip Report can be read here. Part Two, which is all about the Halloween Parties, is here. My review of the Soundsational Annual Passholder Event night is here, and Loren's is here and also includes his review of the CHOC Walk, which was last weekend. I added the following new Characters to the site: Shaker Agent P Zero and the CDA Workers. I added the following new locations to the site: Halloween Time at Disneyland, including Mickey's Halloween Party, Piratepalooza, Buzz Lightyear's Intergalactic Space Jam and Mickey's Costume Party Cavalcade. Phineas and Ferb's Rockin' Rollin' Dance Party Ariel's Grotto "Under the Sea" Character Dining PIXAR Pals Heroes in Training Squad and Monsters Inc Mayhem The Mary Poppins Castle Show The Wilderness Explorer Ceremony and Disney Dance Crew. A lot of pages now have more new photographs, with lots more to come. A few pages also have new videos too. I won't list them all, but next time you visit a page be sure to scroll down to see if anything new shows up under the Most Recent images! Of course, on top of that, all those new pages will need descriptions too, but they will come over time when I get chance! Stay tuned for more updates over the next few days, including our trip to Walt Disney World for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! Ok, that's all for now, Dan. |
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Hi all,
In this second part of my Disneyland California trip report I am going to talk about the Mickey's Halloween Parties.
For the past few years we have been visiting Disneyland Paris and WDW for Halloween. Due to this (and other reasons) we had never visited Disneyland California for Halloween before, so this year, we decided we would!
I have already talked about the regular daytime Halloween offerings at Disneyland in part one, so this report is just about the ticketed parties.
We attended two of the Mickey 's Halloween Parties last week (Tuesday and Friday) and are very glad that we did.
The first one on Tuesday was ridiculously busy, and actually Disney had oversold the tickets that night (we found out from CM friends). [ Read More... ] |
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